Saudi Arabia’s dilemma as it tries to stay out of US-Iran war

The US and Saudi Arabia carried out strikes at a site belonging to Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces On the opposite side of this conflict is the US with its immensely powerful Central Command (Centcom) forces plus - to varying degrees - the Gulf Arab states and Jordan.

Also backed by Iran are the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq, the paramilitary group that has allegedly carried out 30 drone strikes on Saudi Arabia and has now been attacked in return.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia agreed to an uneasy truce with the Houthis, and there were reports of payoffs, but now the richest country in the region, Saudi Arabia, is once more facing the threat of drone and missile attacks from its southern neighbour at the same time as attacks from Iraq to the north.